The Spice of Life
by Shinigami Illusion
Summary: Au. Yaoi. 1x2. Sap. Heero is the average high-ranking soldier at the local army station in the tiny town he lives in...it's all monotonously uniform...until he bumps into someone who gives him a little spice of life.
1. Chapter 1

Title: The Spice of Life Warnings: Yaoi, Lemon, one or two cases of profane language, and the almighty 1x2! That's not a warning.it's.preeetty @_@ Disclaimer: Do I *HAVE* to? *Puppy dog eyes* Oh alright.I don't..o.oo..own. *Nervous breakdown*  
  
SI: I just came up with this on the plane ^_^ And I just HAD to write it..heehee.it's all cute and stuff ^.~ It's AU, no Gundams or war etc, Heero works in the army.and you'll see where Duo is right now ^.~ I'm writing this on a laptop in the car oO;; It's getting it's power from the cigarette lighter outlet.^^;;  
  
  
  
Heero Yuy had always gone down that same road from work for almost four years now. It was four years since his army unit had been transferred to the small sleepy town he was now situated in, and as a high-ranking officer without a war to fight in he was confined to paperwork and defense. It wasn't a glamorous life, but as Heero had always seen everything in his life, he had what was necessary to survive. The bare minimum to endure. And so for the four years he'd been in town, he would wake up at an early six am, have a breakfast consisting of plain toast and 'something' before going to work by foot, and returning at six pm prompt at which time he usually had dinner. Monotonously, day after day, he followed this routine, glad that work took a lot of time or he'd have to find something recreational to do. And Heero wasn't in the least interested in doing something for his own pleasure. It wasn't a 'necessity'.  
  
It was a bit past six when Heero finally turned the last road towards the little apartment he rented. Nobody was out at this time of day, or night, as a large portion of the population consisted of aged people who had their own curfews to keep track of, so the young soldier was alone on the narrow flimsy tarmac road. Brick apartment blocks, pale yellow and red for the most part, were separated by this same tarmac path that only had room for a very small car. It was how most of the town was constructed. The style of apartment blocks surrounded a massive main square where shops, stalls, and the town hall were situated. Beyond town was the army base Heero worked at, and some higher-class mansions for summertime snobs. It was in conclusion not much for show, but it had, just like Heero's life, what was vitally necessary.  
  
It was beginning to darken now, and the golden tinge the sunset gave off cast long shadows off all opaque objects. Heero's shadow was one worth noting, because of the person it was cast by. Heero was not part of that old portion of the inhabitants, quite the contrary. Young and striking, Heero was visually stimulating to a point where any sane woman would drool. Messy dark brown hair was cropped shorter in the back, with smooth bangs shading his shapely face and deep Prussian blue eyes, shaded by rich black lashes, where an air of mystery could always be detected. His skin was a typical Asian pale gold, stretched firmly across a taut lightly muscular body. Now in an army green uniform, close fitting and formal with shined leather army boots, Heero was irresistible.  
  
But he didn't ask for it, nor did he need beauty, if he were to go along the lines of what was necessary. It became a bother to have people gawking at him and the whistles made him want to strange something, or better yet, someONE. He could be a violent man when sufficiently provoked, and those who had suffered his bursts of partial insanity in army camps and similar hadn't emerged healthy.  
  
Yet his appearance was the perfect mirror of what kind of a person he was, or made himself out to be. Cold and withdrawn, emotionless and robotic in his actions, without passion or interest for life and what it held. He just did what he had to, was where he had to be. The tall, dark, and mysterious army officer who never changed his routine, that was Heero. And he was content with it.  
  
.right?  
  
Stopping in front of the worn metal door, Heero inserted the card for the electronic door opener that had been weakly installed in the old door in a frail attempt to modernize, and the two elements clashed horribly. He began waiting the customary ten seconds for the old system to register it had been accessed, as it was very old and slow electronics that had had it's fair share of weather and time.  
  
Upon counting eight, he withdrew the card hastily with a sudden realization. It was Tuesday. He swore he could have kicked himself. Shoving the plastic card back into his pocket, he increased his pace to a half run to reach the edge of the town square, approximately fifty meters away. His boots pounded the loose gravel flat as he ran the last ten meters, slowing to cast a quick glance around the open area, showing closing shops and newly lighted old-fashioned street lamps. The supermarket gave off a cold glare in one corner, and the soft glow of the coffee shop radiated from another. Neither of them was what Heero was looking for. A rush of relief, not accompanied by a sigh as he had never taken to emitting any, his eyes fell on a neat wooden stall, illuminated by several small candles with the falling of dark. It was almost alone where it stood under a gnarled old tree in the center of the square, a simple construction of wood with a clean red and white checkered cloth hanging over it to give the vendor a bit of shade.  
  
/=/ Never closes until seven./=/ He thought with an internal smirk as he made his way in marching mode towards it. Even when he entered the square he could smell it, but as he drew closer the scent intensified drastically. Black pepper, cinnamon, and ground Oregon. Peri-peri, various Chinese herbs, and dried chili, bay leaves and onion powder all mixed together in an arid dance towards his nostrils, making his heart skip a beat on first impact, an involuntary muscle movement that earned him a mental scolding for momentary lapse. It was an herb stall, spices and small dried vegetables galore. An aged lady ran it, wrinkled and gray with a mop of white hair tied up and covered by a light shawl as Heero had remembered her since he'd first moved into town. It had become a custom for him, another comfortable little routine, that every single Tuesday after work he'd go down to the square to buy himself the weekly rations of black pepper, the only spice he'd ever deemed necessary for downing the otherwise tasteless beef he usually ate. He approached the stall, expecting to see the old lady hunched over the scales.  
  
There was no old lady there. Heero furrowed his eyebrows in slight confusion. Hands in his pockets he leaned forward to peer past the candle lit interior of the stall, catching a waft of dried leaves as he did so. Still he saw nobody, and was partially convinced that it was indeed empty. But who in the right mind would leave their source of income, money and all he noted judging from the metal box in the corner, to night-time prowlers? It didn't make much sense to Heero, who was obsessed with security to a certain degree.  
  
"Can I help you?"  
  
The voice startled him as he was leaning inwards, and Heero sprung back, hitting the back of his head hard in the overhanging beam of wood. A couple of chili peppers fell onto his head and he staggered backwards a few steps with dizziness. Regaining his balance and part of his sight, Heero kneaded his palm against the slight bump that had quickly formed on his cranium while searching for the offender. Once the thick white fog had cleared from his eyes and his ears were unclogged, he was aware of movement and the same voice in a more concerned, or frantic, tone.  
  
"Damnit! I'm so sorry, I really didn't mean that. Don't kill me, 'kay? Are you alright? Didn't crack your skull open did you? This ALWAYS happens to me.c'mere, have a seat," was the kind of comments that he heard. Heero felt his arm being taken in a firm but soft grip and he was led in some vague direction towards a few specks of light which he guessed was the candles on the stall. Two long fingered hands pressed him resolutely into a chair without waiting for an answer.  
  
"You ok?" The concern had returned when the first bout of 'Oh SHIT!' had faded. Heero blinked a few more times, slowly rubbing the back of his head where a numbing pain had started bothering him. He nodded gradually to prevent his head from exploding with pain again and heard a soft sigh of relief from the person in front of him. Opening his eyes properly and waiting for the spots dancing in front of his eyes to remove themselves from sight, he focused on his attacker.  
  
Illuminated by soft candlelight was a human form kneeling slightly to the right of his chair. One hand was still holding his arm; the other was resting on the chair. A smooth fair face, with slightly rounded cheeks and a softly pointed chin giving it a heart resembling structure, peered up at him from what appeared a silky firm neck. A partially open mouth of slightly parted moist lips accompanied a narrow nose, thin and distinctly Aryan in form. And those eyes.they were wide now, fairly round but with a slight curve and a look that reminded Heero all too much of a puppy, stared up at him. They were blue, but a tinge of purple, possibly violet, could be detected now and then. Chestnut bangs hung messily, placed randomly by wind, over his face and his hair was pulled back in a long symmetrical braid down to his waist where it was tied with what looked like a strip of leather, ending in a sleek tail which was longer than most of Heero's hair. The rest of him was no less.enchanting, if one were to put it that way. Thin and resembling a cat in many ways, his chest compact and his limbs, though his legs were folded under him and his arms weren't fully visible, made themselves out to be long and graceful. The thin white shirt, a few buttons undone and covered by what looked like a worn dark brown trench coat, and tight faded jeans were his casual choice of clothing, but they became anything but casual on him.  
  
Heero couldn't stop himself from lapsing into stare mode for a few rare and precious seconds, drinking in the sight of human perfection looking up at him with concern etching his beautiful face. It wasn't like him to be taken aback by anyone, much less a man of all people, but this man.there was something special about him, Heero's dazed subconscious strongly decided against his will. As a soldier, thoughts of human beauty and related weren't things that often wandered his mind. Actually, 'never' would be a more appropriate description for that. But still in a slight daze it was hard to prevent himself from partially freeing his thoughts to encircle the young man briefly, to explore the new feelings that sprung up as shoots from an burnt down and barren landscape of routine, strict modes of behavior, and robotic rituals carefully.  
  
"Hey, are you sure you're ok? You still seem kind of lost in the clouds by the looks of it," a graceful hand shifted a stray bang from Heero's face and the heart-shaped one smiled wryly up at him, a glint of a bemusement shining from his eyes telling Heero he probably looked half asleep. Heero closed his eyes momentarily - and with some feelings of resistance - and shook his head slightly, intent on returning to the place he called reality. His reality, a black and white world in which he felt he was in total control.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine," he half muttered monotonously, gripping the sides of the chair and slowly forcing himself up from it, staggering a step forward as blood rushed from his head and blinded him. He felt as if he'd been given a double blow. One, a hard bash to the head courtesy a wooden beam, the second a far more pleasant one, like a picture, though he didn't really know whether to put it under pleasurable or irritating. He'd never established a line to separate the though, despite the huge differences in them.  
  
His counterpart rose with him, quickly withdrawing the hand and stuffing both into his pockets.  
  
"With that over.you wanted something, I'm guessing?" The apologetic smile that adorned his lips didn't fade as he made his way over a few roots to the interior of the stall. Heero noted that he was careful not to get his braid tangled in the masses of herbs and spices that hung randomly from the beam his head had impacted with. Heero hesitated slightly, he purpose he'd come at all blown from his mind until he spotted the bowl of shriveled black seeds standing on the counter.  
  
"Just 200 grams of black pepper, please.." He trailed off, feeling stupid and nervous for a reason he couldn't comprehend. He'd been doing this for years, coming down to get his pepper.  
  
Scooping the right amount into a small paper bag, the man crouched down to fetch the stapler that was often used to keep the bag together, and did just that.  
  
"Nothing else? Not much of a man of spices, are you," He chuckled, handing Heero the bag and accepting the money - with no need for change, of course - with slight resentment. Something in him didn't want to accept the money at all, and had it not been for the favor he was doing the owner of the stall, an old lady who had fallen ill lately, of keeping it running and as a source of income, he'd have given him the pepper for free.  
  
"No, nothing," Heero, with his pepper in his hand, didn't know exactly how to end this ghost of a conversation that had been started. Usually, he just got his pepper and left, with only one or two words or 'hn's being exchanged during the whole procession. But now that this man had spoken to him, sentences at a time, he felt it incomplete to simply leave. He needed to close it, finish it off. Nothing in his world could be left unfinished, even if it was something as small as a conversation. The only problem was he had no idea how to leave without seeming.rude, that was the word, rude. But he'd never even thought about the idea that people might consider him rude before, so why did he start now?  
  
"Thank you," he managed, before whipping around a bit too fast and almost running in the direction he came. He heard a 'No problem' being voiced, but cut off slightly with surprise as he turned around and literally stormed off.  
  
"H-hey, wait!" The voice called him, a note of something related to light panic in his voice. Heero slowed down to a halt and turned his head at a slight angle so he could see its owner. He'd risen, and had walked, no, run, about five meters towards him and now seemed lost for words or comments.  
  
".I'm Duo," he finally managed, realizing a second later how vague and childish that might have sounded. He winced internally at how his customer might react at the stupid remark. But to his surprise, as well as Heero's own, Heero didn't snort and walk off with an air of annoyance about him. Instead, he chose to reply.  
  
"Heero."  
  
Duo smiled brightly, a wave of happiness coming over him all of a sudden. He felt as if it was something special, being told this mans name by him himself. As if not many were privileged with it. He raised two fingers to his forehead and brought them out in a casual salute.  
  
"See you around, Heero," he said quietly and Heero began to walk again, slowly now, a more relaxed pace than normally used by him. He wondered, just out of pure curiosity he told himself, if Duo meant that.  
  
And Duo, standing with his arms wrapped around himself from the chill that had set in, watched Heero's retreating back until the light of the candles was no longer sufficient to make him out.  
  
To Be Continued  
  
A/N: ^^ You's like? I think this is one of my first really AU fics.that has zero, nothing, nada, ingenting to do with Gundams =P This was written.half in the front seat of a car, half on a boat o_O; All hail cigarette lighter outlets! Powering up laptops is the only thing they're good for =P 


	2. Chapter 2

Title: The Spice of Life Warnings: Yaoi, Lemon, one or two cases of profane language, and the almighty 1x2! That's not a warning.it's.preeetty @_@ Disclaimer: Do I *HAVE* to? *Puppy dog eyes* Oh alright.I don't..o.oo..own. *Nervous breakdown*  
  
SI: I'm starting to have second thoughts about the lemon bit.hm.it seems out of place. I'll see how it goes, it's not really necessary. I COULD just add a bit of almighty sap/fluff and leave it at that, which I'd be happy to do. I liiiiike fluff...heeee...^.~ It's in the middle of the night in a Swedish port in a little motorboat, in which I'm sleeping on a bed created from a table. oO; Oh the joys of a summer holiday. Except.no internet. I'm -deprived- of it. Horrible, eh? Heh.but anywho, enough about that. Here's the fic for you ^^  
  
Heero woke at exactly six AM on the following day, which he within one second of gaining consciousness registered as being Wednesday. Casting a quick glance at the digital alarm clock situated on his left on a small wooden bed-side-table,as he habitually did upon waking, he noted the time for himself, and gave a curt not in acknowledgement of the readings displayed there. It gave him until seven to be at work, which was all the time Heero needed to prepare himself for the daily activities and travel the distance to his office.  
  
Heero's room was nothing for show, a mere 'box' with the things that he needed, and one door leading outwards and another into a small bathroom. A wiry old army camping bed -in the daytime, always immaculately made- and it's companion table stood in the farthest corner, opposite of which was a dresser so plain and simple it looked to have been made by a very unimaginative person. A rickety chair, it's light blue paint fading and on the verge of peeling in several places, held his uniform and acted as roof for his always-shining boots. The walls were a very light creamy white, with an angular roof dappled with water intrusions here and there an old mixed blue rug spread straight on the floor. But however small his room might have been, and boring to a person who enjoys variety in their furniture, it was one to beat many. A plainly massive window looked out upon the various roofs of shorter houses, an array of multicolored tiles sometimes glazed thickly with varnish. It was large enough to encompass the stretch of open horizon beyond this human settlement, and facing towards what to many was known as "The Land of the Rising Sun", every morning was a mind-blowing spectacle of black fading slowly and with much dramatic shifting of color to include the most amazing of golds, to the pale blue it took on during the day. It put truth into the phrase 'A sight for sore eyes'.  
  
But Heero, exiting the room before six fifteen, never stayed long enough to experience this theatrical moment of natures wonder, stuck in his ongoing routine as he was. He was simply comfortable with his regular activities, and saw nothing wrong with following it as planned each morning, every day as it came. What use was there in changing a good schedule if you lived well by it? It seemed beyond reason to him, to obscure an entire day in such a way. Spontaneous wasn't a word often linked with Heero's behavior, nor was social. People often experienced him as withdrawn and unusually quiet, which lead to the assumption that he was always unpleasantly cyborg- like. Which wasn't in itself true to a 100% accuracy, Heero was as human as anyone, simply not the outgoing type. Maybe he was cold, but that was simply because he didn't overuse language, waste time with expression or emphasis, nor did he particularly like conversations or people particularly much. Then again, people do tend to think members of the army are harsh people, which Heero himself cared little for. They could make their assumptions, it didn't affect his world. Life's finery never interested this soldier much either, and he was much content in his ways. If you can get on without something and not miss it, then so be it. Accustomed and worked into following a schedule gave him comfort, the rules and regulations imposed on him through work and regulated life made sure he never suffered any unnecessary loops and swings in his living. Secure. He was secure, and liked it. If 'liked' wasn't the right word, at least he'd never really had any life-changing cravings for anything else.  
  
Completing his early morning activities consisting of brushing his teeth and donning his uniform - His hair, even if he'd wanted to do anything with it, was left untouched with the typical just-out-of-bed style to it - and as the rim of gold began intensifying to start it's performance, he was closing the door and shuffling towards the kitchen for breakfast. And so once again without realizing it, he'd left his free ticket to natures demonstration behind. His now spotless and tidy room, made so in the space between brushing his teeth and getting dressed, was the only ungrateful audience.  
  
Breakfast passed as it usually did with the slightly dog-eared newspaper and a cup of steaming coffee, and the locking up of the ancient door and it's splash of modern technology was earlier than expected. This wasn't something extreme, coming early never was a problem, and happened quite often in the case of Heero. Something that annoyed the doorman to no end, when he was disturbed mid-way to his breakfast to open the door to the office for the 'Earlybird Yuy' as he was harshly crowned one morning. It gave Heero time to stretch his legs with a slight short-cut (Short cuts never work, and always end up being longer than the usual road, hence he took a supposed 'short cut' to get the most out of his walk to work.)  
  
Strolling with his hands resting in his pockets, he made his way through the busy market place in his preferred silence. Everyone around him was making noise enough for two German armies, and so there was no need to utter as much as a word. Stands were being set up and people were cheerfully discussing today's business forecast and praised the weather with jovial laughter interjected into their conversations. Despite the early hour, women and their children were outside buying the eggs for the breakfast omelet, and a few cups of coffee sent a heavy scent into the air from where they were held in the hands of latecomers to the square as they hurriedly set up their businesses for the day.  
  
His shoulder collided softly with one almost level with his in a particularly busy area, and he muttered a quick apology. His eyes shifted in time to see the end of a long braid sweeping past his leg. Heero opened his mouth to say something, recognizing the braid as belonging to the man he'd met yesterday on buying his black pepper for that week. Something prompted him to say hello at least, or nod his head in greeting. It was rare that he met anyone who actually knew him in town, despite having lived there for what seemed ages. People recognized him, and he got his fair share of smiles and respectful nods as he passed down the roads, which he returned. But not being the extremely social person, it wasn't as if people launched on him and chattered away madly every time they saw him. But he didn't as much as have to finish the 90 degree turn he was in the middle of before his friend had whipped around and flashed him a wide smile that crinkled his large eyes slightly, on identification.  
  
"Morning! Didn't expect to see you here, how's your head?" he asked, imitating Heero's pose of propping his hands into his pockets, except his head was cocked to the side and he was smiling widely as he waited for the reply. A light wind was kind enough to blow his bangs out of his eyes, toying with his braid that swung freely along his back. His dark blue jacket puffed up slightly as another gust caught the cloth. Heero smiled back and nodded a 'Good Morning' in return, explaining with a word limit of ten that he had escaped home early today and was taking a 'short cut' through the marketplace, and that his head was fine. Of course, he used detour to describe the route he'd taken, being as proper with his speaking as he could. After all, English classes were meant for something, weren't they?  
  
"Aa.so.you work over at the army base, right?" At Heeros short nod, Duo was a bit lost on what to say to continue and draw out the conversation a bit. He liked the company of Heero, even though he'd only experienced a precious bit of it, and didn't want him to leave so soon. But being a man of many words, he picked a random topic floating about in the air and continued on.  
  
"I don't usually work here," Duo indicated with his head to the busy assemblage of people and stalls they were in the middle of, unable to help himself from grinning in a pleased manner at being surrounded by it, "But I know the lady whose spice stall that is, so when she fell ill I offered to take care of it for her. Poor thing, she's really nice and all, but a bit old to be doing very much," He finished off, unsure what the expression on Heero's face meant. But he lightened up at the acknowledging nod, indicating Heero was indeed listening with interest at his little chattering session. He was all set on continuing, but when he glanced quickly at his watch and then looked to the people that were obviously approaching the stall he was meant to be tending with some resentment. Smiling apologetically at Heero he withdrew his hands from his pockets and heaved a sigh, coupled with a sarcastic rolling of his eyes.  
  
"Day's work begins I suppose, better get going or the old lady won't be too happy with my services," he swiped an strand of hair causing annoyance to his eye away from the area," even though I am doing it for free."  
  
Heero nodded, deciding that he too should probably be on his way. Once again he felt it would be too rude to just snap around and continue on his way, and so unsurely he waited for Duo to do it instead. Though that felt slightly rude as well, he wasn't the most experienced with bumping into people on his way to work, and so had an excuse for not being very advanced in the social rituals of everyday life.  
  
"So, ah, I'll see you," Duo said and upon being shouted to from the stall from several potential customers that time was running short and the sun was setting he was forced to turn his back and began running towards his work place. Heero, a bit disappointed at the hasty good bye but of course thinking nothing of it, also turned and began a slow pace towards his office. It was still quite a walk, and he'd better hurry if he wanted to be painfully early as usual. Duo turned around and skipped backwards several times, on the verge of saying something but changing his mind at the last second again as he watched Heero make melt into the crowds. The little spinning and turning dance-like run continued until he was halfway to his destination when he finally got a grip on himself and paused to shout out.  
  
"Hey, Heero!"  
  
Heero stopped mid-step and turned around, an eyebrow raised curiously. Had Duo not been so far off he'd have glimpsed the unmistakable look of anticipation on Heero's face. Duo hesitated, unsure of what he should say. It was only when he realized Heero might be out of hearing range soon that he'd decided to blurt out something equivalent to a 'PS' message at the end of a letter that changed the whole content of the text. He had no clue what he was going to say, until he was hit by a sudden brainwave the consisted of nothing more than the smell of black pepper.  
  
"Come by after work?" he heard himself say with all the normal confidence his voice usually contained, despite the short notice at which a reason for alerting Heero had to be conjured. As a matter of fact, he had no idea why he'd asked him to stop by at the end of the day. Duo groaned internally, knowing that he'd make a fool of himself when the time arrived, no doubt.  
  
Heero was a bit stricken, this being almost the same thing as being asked to 'come and visit some day', a phrase he often heard around the town when people conversed to each other. And frankly, he'd never have considered himself a target for the question. Nevertheless, he nodded, and Duo's dolphin-wide smile of obvious happiness rubbed off considerably on him.  
  
"Great! Be seein' you!"  
  
And he was off and gone in the throng of people bustling around in the daily process of events, to see to the gathering of customers who gave him soft glares at his tardiness, that were wiped as soon as the smiling entity that was the spice stall vendor arrived and flashed them an apologetic grin. Heero was left with an odd sense of contentment about the way in which the start of his day unfolded, and the effect lasted through its entirety. From when he turned once more to with a bemused expression head through the market square towards the direction of work, to when he closed the last file on his computer, exiting the now dark office building. He was the last to leave, as usual, and did his duty of flicking off the main light switch on his way out. The doorman muttered quiet curses as he locked the door after Heero had left. Over the years, had grown to deeply loathe him.  
  
A/N: Haven't written for ages I know, I'm VERY sorry about that. ^^ Anywho's, here we are, new chapter. XD 


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